Person:John Rowe (6)

Gloucester

John Rowe appears in Gloucester records in 1651 when he purchased land from William Vinson.^[5][6][12] According to the deed, he was already “of Gloster”. He was also already married to his wife Bridget and the father of two sons, John and Hugh.

John is known for being unhappy with the location, as he appeared in Court in 1656, for saying that “if his wife was of his mind he would set his house on fire and run away by the light, and the Devil should take the farm; and that he would live no longer among such a company of hell hounds.”^[10] His unhappiness probably had more to do with people in the community than with his farm. Hellhounds, in old folklore, are supernatural creatures often seen as omens of death, guardians of the entrance to the world of the death; said to hunt lost souls, even sometimes to cause death. And this was not John’s first appearance in Court. Three years earlier, in 1653, he had appeared in court for "affronting Mr. Wm. Perkins in the time of his preaching of the Word in public."^[10] Several other members of the community also were dissatisfied with Mr. Perkins, although perhaps not expressing themselves “in the time of his preaching.”^[10]

Whatever his opinions, John continued to live and farm in Gloucester until his death. He signed his will in October 1661,^[7][11] and died the following March.^[2][5][11] The will was entered into probate in June,^[3][7][11] and his inventory suggests that his farm was reasonably successful.^[7]

Will

Will of John Row of Gloucester, proved at Salem on 24: 4: 1662:^S3

In the name of god Amen:

I John Row in my will and Testament; being in my perfect sences doe give and Refine my Soule to god that gave it; and my Body to the earth to be Buried; and my goods: I despose of;

As ffolloweth:

I give all my wholle estat which god hath bestowed upon me; to my wife and my to sonns; That is to say to my wife; and my sonne John; and my Sonn huah; to be equaly devided Betweene them and to every one a like: and as for my wife; if her third part of goods will not maintaine her; it is my will ye my too sonns shall maintaine her all her dais; if in case shee live unmaried; And if she doe mary, what goods she have at her decease shall be equaly deuided to my to sonns: That is to say what estate she have; at her day of mariage; and if either of these to sonns dye unmaried his estat shalbe his Brothers that doe Remaine a live: and in wittnes hereof I set my hand;

Dated ye : 15th : of ye: 8: mo: 1661:

The marke of O John Row senier:

Whitnes:

The mark of I/I John Collens senier:

Steven Glover

John Collens Junier:

Inventory of the estate of John Roe, taken 2 Apr 1662 by Samuel Delayer, John (his mark) Collings and William Brown
Total Value 205li 16s 10d
Sworn by Brigitt Row, the widow, and John Row, her son, 9 June 1662^[28]

Before Gloucester

If John Rowe married Bridget in Salem, presumably there would be some record there. No marriage is recorded, either under the name Rowe or Jeggles (her supposed maiden name) or spelling variants of Roe and Giggles, nor are the births of their sons.^[21] There is also no mention of the Rowe family in the first two volumes of Perley’s ‘’History of Salem’’.^[22]

Occasional references to a John Rowe occur in Plymouth Colony, but both Savage^[11] and Anderson et al^[9] consider these to be variant spellings of Rouse (or Rowse).

John is also sometimes said to have spent some time in Dedham before coming to Gloucester,^[14] but there is no record of his children’s baptisms in Dedham between 1635 and 1650.^[23]

John Rowe of Gloucester as the son of John Rowe of Lamerton

The assertion that John Rowe of Gloucester was the descendant of John Rowe of Lamerton has a long life, existing before 1908.^[12] Where that assertion originates is currently unknown.

Kenneth Rowe, a descendant of John Rowe, said that his family maintained a tradition of descent from the Rowe family of Lamerton, Devon, in England. Kenneth Rowe’s research included a trip to Devon, where he found a Rowe family tree beginning with Everhard Roe of 1190 and continuing down to Grace Rowe Newman, granddaugher of S. Baring-Gould of Lew Trenchard, Devon. The pedigree included John Rowe of Gloucester.^[24] Kenneth Rowe does not mention where he found the pedigree, nor who created it, but presumably it had the approval, and was perhaps in the possession of, Grace Rowe Newman. Beyond that, Kenneth Rowe found little to confirm John Rowe of Gloucester as the son of John Rowe of Lamerton. The existence of the pedigree is enough, however, to convince some experienced researchers of the relationship.^[13][14]

If John Rowe of Gloucester is the son of John Rowe of Lamerton, then he was born about 1607, and was presumably living in Lamerton in 1642, when he signed the Protestation in support of the Anglican Church.^[25] John Rowe of Lamerton died in 1652, and in his will he states that his son John is to be paid 10£ yearly, while his wife and other named children all receive property.^[26] The provision of an annuity could have been made for many reasons, but in this time period is often an indication that the heir has moved to one of the colonies.

John Rowe of Gloucester as the son of John Rowe of Lamerton, or at least John Rowe of Gloucester’s continued presence in England until at least the mid- to late1640s, would account for a lack of records for him in Massachusetts. However, if John Rowe of Gloucester is the son of John Rowe of Lamerton, then other information about his life is cast in doubt. Marriage to Bridget Jeggles, presumed daughter of William Jeggles of Salem, for example, seems unlikely.

If, on the other hand, John Rowe of Gloucester did marry Bridget Jeggles of Salem, then his birth date and place of birth become open to speculation, which has been extensive. His birth date, in particular, has usually been estimated as somewhere around 1620-1625,^{[16][17][18][19]} presumably based on his estimated marriage date, in turn probably based on the estimated birth dates of his sons. Other researchers, particularly those who accept that John Rowe’s wife was Bridget Jeggles of Salem, simply leave his birth date unknown.^[1][15] Unfortunately, there is no evidence, and in fact serious doubt, that John Rowe of Gloucester's wife was a daughter of William Jeggles, making the entire argument somewhat spurious.

Given the current information, the identification of John Rowe of Gloucester as the son of John Rowe of Lamerton remains tentative. Better documentation, either in proof of the relationship or in disproof, would be helpful.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Tingley, Raymon Meyers. Some ancestral lines: being a record of some of the ancestors of Guilford Solon Tingley and his wife Martha Pamelia Meyers. (Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing Co., 1935)
   p. 322.

   Rowe
   John Rowe, of Gloucester, Mass, born _____; d. 9 Mar 1661/2, Gloucester. In Gloucester as early as 1651. Married 13 July 1640, Bridget, dau of William & Mary Jeggles, of Salem, Mass., b. 10 June 1619; died 2 May 1680, Gloucester; m. 2, William Coleman

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Roe, John, in Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Gloucester, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts.: Essex Institute, 1917)
   Vol 3 p. 263.

   Roe, John, "the older," Mar. 9, 1661-2.

3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Row, John, in Perley, Sidney, ed. Essex Antiquarian. (Salem, Mass.: Essex Antiquarian)
   Vol 1 p. 130.

   Copy of the original instrument on file in the office of the clerk of courts at Salem, Volume VIII, leaf 26. See text.

4.   "Ipswcih Court Records and Files", in Perley, Sidney, ed. Essex Antiquarian. (Salem, Mass.: Essex Antiquarian)
   Vol 10 p. 86.

   See text for details. John Row presented by grand jury for affronting Mr. Wm Perkins.

5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4} Babson, John J. History of the town of Gloucester, Cape Ann: including the town of Rockport. (Gloucester Mass.: Procter Bros., 1860)
   pp. 143-144.

   Jp. 143 - John Rowe settled in that part of the town which has long been known as the Farms. He bought land therein 1651, of Thomas Drake; into whose possession it passed from Nicholas Norton of Weymouth, who bought it of William Vinson; to whom it was sold by George Norton, the original grantee. He was the first settler on this remote and lonely spot. A dense forest surrounded him, separating him on one side from the ocean, which was not far distant; and on the other from his townsmen, most of whom were more than two miles off. He did not, however, find repose in this retired place: for he appears in 1656, intimating a "mind to set his house on fire, and run away by ye light;" and expressing a desire to "to live no longer among such a company of hell-hounds." He continued there, nevertheless, till death relieved him from all earthly trouble.
   John Rowe died March 9, 1662. He left a widow Bridget, who married William Colman; and two sons, -- John and Hugh.

6. ↑ ^6.0 6.1 Essex County (Massachusetts). Register of Deeds. Deeds, 1639-1866; index to deeds, 1640-1879 (Essex County, Massachusetts). (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1971)
   Vol. I, p. 81 (orig. 201); FHL #0866015.

   11:1:60 [11 Mar 1660]
   “These presents witnesseth that William Vinson, Gloucester, hath in consideration of sixteen pounds in hand paid, sold and doe by these presents sell unto John Roe of ye sd Gloster, my farme lying in Glocester which I bought of George Norton, & given by the towne to the sd Norton namely forty acres of upland & twelve acres of salt marsh altogether lying neere little good harbour bounded & layd out by the town measures according as it is recorded in the town books except a little a[p]oynt of upland that doe jone to John Collens & Goodman Jacksons measur, and I the sd William Vinson doe make overall my right as is forenamed to the sd John Roe to him & his assigns forever; witness my hand ye 28:10 mo. 1651.”
   Signed William Vinson
   Witnesses: Robert Tucker, Elizabeth [blank] her mark Tucker
   “. . .the sayd William Vinson did acknowledge this to be his act and deed 17th day of ye 7th mo. 1659 & at the sam time Sarah his wife yielded up all her right in the said land with reference to dower that ye law would giver her before me Samuell Symonds”

7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4} Massachusetts, Probate Court (Essex County). The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts. (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Institute, 1916, 1917, 1920)
   Vol 1, pp. 380-381; FHL #103717.

   Estate of John Row(e) of Gloucester
   Essex Probate Docket # None
   Includes Inventory, which amounted to two hundred and five pounds sixteen shillings ten pence, consisted primarily of agriculture and household items.

8.   Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995).

   a John Rowe is mentioned in
   ROBERT MENDUM:
   On 7 January 1638/9 "Jonathan Brewster & Will[ia]m Basset are appointed to lay forth Rob[er]te Mendlove's & John Carew's land, and the garden place for John Rowe"

9. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles; George F. Sanborn; and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. (Boston, Massachusetts: NEHGS, 1999-2011)
   Vol VI, p. 108.

   a John Rowe is discussed under John Rouse (sometimes spelled Rowse) of Marshfield:
   7 Jan 1638/9, Plymouth Colony Court Records: John Rowe allowed to Marry, to have a garden by Scittuate Path
   5 Mar 1638/9, Duxbury, in court for drinking tobacco
   7 Jan 1642, Duxbury, to be given land or other satisfaction for water overflowing his house and land

10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3} Massachusetts (Colony). Quarterly Courts (Essex County). Records and files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts. (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Institute, 1911-1925, 1975)
    Vol. 1.

    p. 306
    Ipswich Quarterly Court, September 1653
    John Roe of Gloster, for affronting Mr. Wm. Perkins in the time of his preaching of the Word in public.
    Witnesses: Jeffrey Parsons, Grace Dutch
    (others in Court for similar reasons at the same time: Robert Dutch, Robert Tucker, Christopher Avery)
    p. 428
    Salem Quarterly Court, June 1656
    John Row of Gloster fined and to confess for saying that if his wife was of his mind he would set his house on fire and run away by the light, and the Devil should take the farm; and that he would live no longer among such a company of hell hounds.

11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6} Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
    3:580.

    Rowe, John, Gloucester 1651, d. 9 Mar. 1662;
    in his will of 15 Oct. 1661, pro. 24 June foll. names w. Bridget, and s. John, and Hugh, the latter call. 20 yrs. old in 1665.
    The wid. m. 14 Nov. 1662, William Colman, outliv. him a fortnight, d. 2 May 1640
    
    Rowe, John, Duxbury, early took o. of fidel, says Winsor; but when was early is not told, nor any thing else. I suspect the name means Rowse.

12. ↑ ^12.0 12.1 Rowe, in Little, George Thomas, compiler. Genealogical and Family History 
of the 
State of Maine. (New York : Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1909)
    accessed 21 June 2014.

    Beautiful Devonshire in the southwest of England is the ancestral home of the Rowes. Here at Lamerton near Plymouth the family were long possessed of a considerable estate which was handed down from generation to generation, evidently since the days of Richard the First. It was in the days of the crusades that the founder of the house received as a token of his bravery in the holy wars the arms since borne by his descendants.
    The name of Nicholas Rowe, a member of this family, is well known to all students of English literature as that of the first biographer of Shakespeare and translator of Lucan's Pharsalia. . . . .
    Nearly a quarter of a century before the birth of Nicholas, however, another member of the family, lured by the promise of the New World and the freedom of worship according to conscience, left the country of his ancestors and settled on the bleak shore of New England. John Rowe came to Cape Ann in 1651 and established himself on the estate still well known to his descendants, being the first to settle in that part of Gloucester known as the Farms.

13. ↑ Generations One through Four (Last Updated 12 March, 2008), in John Row of Lamerton, Tavistock Devon, England and some of his Descendants
    accessed 21 Jun 2014.

    Generation No. 1
    John2 Row (John1) was born 13 October 1607 in Lamerton Tavistock, Devon, England[1], and died 09 March 1661/62 in Gloucester, Essex County Massachusetts[2]. He married Bridget Jeggles[3] 13 July 1640 in Salem, Essex County Massachusetts, daughter of William Jeggles and Mary ---. She was born 10 June 1619 in Southwold, Suffolk England[4], and died 02 May 1680 in Gloucester, Essex County Massachusetts[5].
    
    Sources:
    1. Rowe, Kenneth Allyn, Research in Rowe Search, (Topsfield, Fox Run Press,1980), p94.
    2. Newbury Massachusetts, Town of, Vital Records of Newbury, Essex County Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, (The Essex Institute, Salem MA, 1924), V3, p263.
    3. Rowe, Kenneth Allyn, Research in Rowe Search, (Topsfield, Fox Run Press,1980), Page 94.
    4. Rowe, Kenneth Allyn, Research in Rowe Search, (Topsfield, Fox Run Press,1980), p94.
    5. Gloucester, Essex County Massachusetts, City of, Vital Records of Gloucester, Essex County Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, (The Essex Institute, Salem MA, 1924), V3, p97.

14. ↑ ^14.0 14.1 The Row, Jeggles, Dickisson, Low, Harris, Norwood, Graham, Robinson and Andrews Families (Last Updated 17 Jan, 2008), in The Wainwright Family of Essex County Massachusetts
    accessed 21 Jun 2014.

    Many New Englanders with the Rowe surname today can claim a single immigrant ancestor, John Row, who came to Gloucester Massachusetts sometime after 1642. His family, originating in Tavistock, Devon England, had a long, noble and well-documented history dating back to Sir Everhard de Rowe, a thirteenth century contemporary of Richard the Lionhearted. John may have lived briefly in Dedham Massachusetts and, after that in Salem Massachusetts. Upon arriving in Gloucester, John took possession of several acres of land in the Farms section of East Gloucester, near what is today known as Good Harbor Beach.

15. ↑ Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. (1963).

    Rowe, John (-1662) & Bridget [Jiggles?] (?1619-), m/2 William Coleman 1662; b 1643; Gloucester

16. ↑ Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900: [database online] (not considered a reliable primary source). (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004).

    John Rowe, b. EN, 1607
    Married 1640, MA
    Bridget Jeggles, b. EN, 1619
    Source number: 1764.038; Source type: Family group sheet
    ---------------
    John Rowe, b. De[von], 1610
    married 1638, De[von]
    Bridget Jegles, b. 1619
    Source number: 183.000; Source type: Electronic Database
    ----------------
    John Rowe, b. 1620, MA
    married 1640
    Bridget Jeggles, b. 1619, MA
    Source number: 1364.000; Source type: Electronic Database

17. ↑ John Rowe, in Ancestral Trails Genealogy Web Site], An ongoing family history research project by David A. Walker.

    John Rowe
    John Rowe, b. 1620 or about 1625
    Married Bridget Jeggles about 1645
    Source: Correspondence with Gary Leighton Townshend (Toronto, Ontario). Personal Archives of David Arthur Walker (Edwards, Ontario, Canada)

18. ↑ Information provided by Les Bowser, Aug 1998.

    John Rowe born 1620, Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts

19. ↑ Information from Ferrin Leavitt
    GEDCOM received Sep 1999.

    John Row born about 1625

20. ↑ Vivian, J. L. (John Lambrick). The visitations of the county of Devon: comprising the herald's visitations of 1531, 1564, & 1620. (Exeter: For the author by H.S. Eland, 1895).

    Children of John Rowe of Tavistock and Elizabeth Moore:
    John, 3rd son, age 13 in 1620 [=b. 1607]

21. ↑ Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records to the End of the year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1916-1925).
22. ↑ Perley, Sidney. The History of Salem, Massachusetts. (Salem, Massachusetts: Sidney Perley, 1924-1928).
23. ↑ Dedham, Norfolk, Births, marriages, deaths 1635-1853, in Massachusetts. Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001. (FamilySearch).
24. ↑ Rowe, Kenneth Allyn. Research in Rowe Research. Virginia Rowe, Danvers/Salem, Massachusetts, 1980.
25. ↑ Howard, A. J., editor and transcriber The Devon Protestation Returns 1641. Introduction and Index by T. L. Sloate. © A. J. Howard, 1973. West Country Studies Library, Exeter, Devon, England.
26. ↑ Will of John Rowe, Gentleman of Lampton, Devon; The National Archives, Prob/11/228/461.
27. ↑ Howard, A. J., editor and transcriber The Devon Protestation Returns 1641. Introduction and Index by T. L. Sloate. © A. J. Howard, 1973. West Country Studies Library, Exeter, Devon, England.

    p. iii – all male inhabitants over the age of 18 [b. 1623 or earlier] were required to sign – refusal was taken to indicate recusancy; failure to sign could also result from sickness or absence, esp. absence at sea in coastal parishes
    p. 371, Parish of Lamerton, Hundred of Lifton
    Rowe, Francis
    Rowe, George
    Rowe, John
    Rowe, John jun.
    Rowe, Robert

28. ↑ ^28.0 28.1 Massachusetts (Colony). Quarterly Courts (Essex County). Records and files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts. (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Institute, 1911-1925, 1975)
    Vol. 3, p. 424.